Now and Zen

Hike and meditate at Green Gulch Zen Center in Marin County

Feel like you need to enlighten up? Green Gulch Zen Center understands. For over 40 years, this Marin County staple of mindfulness has blazed a trail to ahhs (including, literally, a fabulous hiking trail!). For those curious, visit the Center on a Sunday morning, when they open their wooden temple doors to the public for meditation classes. Remove your shoes at the door and take a seat on a wooden platform cushioned by pillows. Next, assume the position: legs crossed, arms resting on knees, back straight, eyes half-open gazing ahead.

Zen priests teach zazen meditation, best summed up as “let thoughts come, let thoughts go.” Next is the Dharma talk, an hour of inspirational stories packed with plentiful wisdom. Afterward, replenish your well-spent energy with tea and muffins, and step outside for a stroll through the center’s organic farm and fresh gardens. Good zenergy.

BONUS HIKE: Green Gulch Farm Zen Center lies smack in the middle of some excellent hiking trails, including a 4-mile loop that passes through the farm and up to outstanding coastal views. Green Gulch Farm Zen Center is located on Highway 1 (Shoreline Hwy.) less than a mile from the Muir Beach access road.

Green Gulch Farm Zen Center is located on Highway 1 (Shoreline Hwy.) less than a mile from the Muir Beach access road. The Sunday program starts with meditation instruction at 8:15 a.m. If you have experience, skip the instruction and arrive for the 9:15 a.m. session. A $10 to $20 donation is appreciated to support the Center.

Trending Stories NorCal

View all Stories
  1. Serene Las Gallinas

    A serene stroll alongside marshland, passing ponds and grasses frilled in seasonal wildflowers, with Mount Tam a beacon in the background … how nice. As part of the esteemed Bay Trail, San Rafael’s Las Gallinas Valley Birding Loop and Wildlife Ponds comprises about 3.5 miles of wide-open trail.

    View
  2. Paint Brushy

    This time of year you’ll have good reason to head for the hills—the electric-green rolling hills of Brushy Peak Regional Preserve in Livermore. This 4.5-mile loop hike is like stepping into a plein air painting.

    View
  3. Sponsored

    2025 POST Wildflower Walks

    Get flower empowered! POST’s complimentary 2025 Wildflower Walks guide blooms with the best places to see a variety of florals across the Peninsula and South Bay this spring.

    View
  4. All right, Almaden!

    Take a trip through time on this 5-mile loop in Almaden Quicksilver County Park. Explore the ruins of an old cinnabar mine and enjoy the first hints of wildflower season.

    View

Trending Stories SoCal

View all Stories
  1. Sponsored

    Weekend in Reno Tahoe

    Weekend plans? Reno Tahoe! Just a few hours by car or a short flight away, Reno Tahoe springs to the moment with great ways to combine adventure and relaxation in its beautiful mountains-meets-desert setting.

    View
  2. Hiker walking along the North Bluff Trail on Santa Cruz Island, Channel Islands National Park

    Purely Wild

    Channel Islands National Park lives up to its nickname as “North America’s Galapagos.” This less-traveled national park is an undeveloped and isolated series of five dramatic and distinct islands reached by boat. Hike the largest of the islands, Santa Cruz.

    View
  3. Woman hiking the South Kaibab Trail in the Grand Canyon

    Truly Grand Day Hike

    One of the best spring day hikes in the Grand Canyon? See layer upon layer of the park’s grandeur—including the river—on this 3-mile (one-way) journey to Skeleton Point via the South Kaibab Trail.

    View
  4. A woman stands amid an array of yellow and purple flowers at Descanso Gardens in Los Angeles

    Petal Paradise

    Tulips, lilacs, and daffodils—flower power is in full bloom at Descanso Gardens in La Cañada Flintridge. Sprawling across 150 acres surrounded by mountains, the gardens are putting on their best show right now.

    View